Voluntary Manslaughter Flashcards
Introduction
This is known as constructive manslaughter, the 3 elements to this are.
1) The D must do an unlawful act and the D must have the required Mens Rea for the Unlawful Act.
2) The Act must be dangerous on an objective test.
3) The act must cause the death.
1) The D must do an Unlawful Act?
The death must be caused by an unlawful criminal act.
R v Lamb - Any Criminal offence will suffice.
R v Lowe - An omission cannot be an unlawful act as it has to be an act.
1) The D must do an Unlawful Act? The D must have the required mens rea for the unlawful act.
DPP v Newbury - It must be proven that the D had the necessary Mens Rea for the unlawful act.
2) The act must be dangerous on an objective test?
The Unlawful act must be dangerous.
R v Church - Held that this would be an objective test, All sober and reasonable people must realise some risk of harm, It is the reasonable person test.
R v Larkin - The harm need only be some risk and not serious harm.
AG’s Reference 1998 - The harm need not be aimed at the victim.
3) The act must cause the death, Factual Causation?
The unlawful act must cause the death.
R v Pagett - establishes the but for test.
R v Carey - If the unlawful act did not cause the death the D is not liable for manslaughter.
3) The act must cause the death, Legal Causation?
R v Kimsey - The D will be guilty if his conduct was more than a minimal cause.
R v Blaue - Thin Skull rule.
Intervening Acts, Non Medical?
1) An act of a third party - Sufficiently serious and independent from the defendant.
2a) V’s own actions, R v Williams - unforeseeable act of the Victim will be an intervening act.
2b) V’s own actions, R v Roberts - Foreseeable reaction from the V not an intervening act.
3) A natural but unpredictable event.
4) R v Wallace - V’s self neglect or suicide.
Intervening Acts, Medical Treatment?
R v Smith - Not an intervening act because death still possible from original conduct.
R v Jordan - Intervening act because the Act caused the death, The original conduct would have not caused the death.
R v Malcherek - Life Support machines being switched off does not break the chain of causation.
Intervening Acts, Illegal Drugs?
R v Dalby - D supplies the drugs but does not inject the drugs into the V, breaks chain of causation.
R v Cato - If the D who supplies the drugs injects the V then causation not broken.
Transferred malice does apply.
